$18 BILLION ASSAULT ON DRUGS

Kids to be focus of prevention effort

WASHINGTON -- Releasing the administration's five-part strategy to fight
drugs, Vice President Al Gore called yesterday for an "all-out effort to
banish crime, drugs and disorder and hopelessness from our streets."

Despite the Clinton administration's promise to take a balanced approach in
cutting the nation's drug problem in half by 2007, advocacy groups decried
what they saw as a continued emphasis on law enforcement over prevention
and treatment.

Administration officials said the plan continued to build on recent success
in the fight against drugs, noting government estimates show drug use by
adults is at half what it was in 1979 and drug use by young people has
started to decline.

The nationwide effort includes nearly $18 billion to be spent this year by
the federal government. White House drug policy Director Barry McCaffrey
wants children to be the focal point.

The White House "seeks to involve parents, coaches, mentors, teachers,
clergy and other role models in a broad prevention campaign," McCaffrey
said in the four-volume strategy sent to Capitol Hill yesterday.

The five parts of the administration plan are educating children,
decreasing the addicted population, breaking the cycle of drugs and crime,
securing the nation's borders from drugs and reducing the drug supply.

The plan is aimed at reducing the use and availability of drugs by 25
percent by 2002 and 50 percent by 2007. That would mean just 3 percent of
the U.S. population age 12 and older would be using illegal drugs. The
current figure is estimated at 6.4 percent. In 1979, the rate was near 15
percent.

Some advocates were unconvinced the plan did enough to boost treatment and
prevention.

McCaffrey defended the administration's commitment to prevention,
highlighting an advertising campaign that generates more than $195 million
in matching contributions from media companies.